The Canadian Train from Vancouver to Toronto

Great experience, pity about the train and the staff. Our reason
for taking the Canadian train across Canada was to get an idea of the scale
of the country and what was there. I was glad I took the trip, we saw Canada,
but there are some problems with the train itself. The rolling stock dates from
1955 and is somewhat faded and scruffy. In addition many of the staff are what
central casting would supply if you asked for British Rail staff from that period
- in other words, they do not offer much enhancement to the travel experience!
You should be warned too that there is no "commentary" or literature
provided for the journey, apart from a desultory few words a couple of times
a day over the intercom. One would have thought that they could have supplied
a small booklet on the mileages, the stations and the history of what we were
passing through. They set out to give a trans Canada experience, but only actually
deliver the transport from A to B without any frills.

The Canadian train is today the only way you can cross Canada,
or indeed North America, by rail. It is a 4 night train trip from Vancouver
to Toronto (or vice versa) Run by Via
Rail. The Canadian runs between Toronto and Vancouver three times a week,
traveling 4.466 kms. We travelled Silver & Blue Class (their name for First
Class). You start around 8 in the evening and arrive around 8 in the morning,
having spent 4 nights on the train.

They promise "cosy accommodations", "delicious
meals" and exclusive access to the Park Car with 360 degree panoramic views.
And, in addition, touches like "a shower kit, bottled water and ear plugs",
plus "priority boarding from the exclusive pre-boarding lounge in Toronto
and Vancouver." The ViaRail web site promises

"You wake up and open the curtains to be greeted by the majestic
Rocky Mountains slowly emerging from a veil of clouds. You prepare quickly for
breakfast, spurred on by the gentle rocking of the train and the promise of
freshly brewed coffee. After leisurely savouring your breakfast omelette, you
collect your book and head to the Skyline car. There, you'll sip, read, socialize...
and scan the panoramic view for a glimpse of elk moving across the valley. Relive
the romance of train travel "

However this is not a modern luxury train like the Orient Express, but they
do not tell you that. ViaRail is the government owned company that operates
what was formerly the Canadian Pacific passenger rolling stock. The route from
Vancouver to Toronto today follows the slightly more northerly Canadian national
route, rather than the original Canadian Pacific Route. ViaRail uses the original
1955 stainless steel rolling stock, so you are travelling in a 50 year old museum
piece. Wikipedia
have more on the technicalities

The result is that ViaRail oversell expectations to the passengers. I found
an independant review of the Canadian service that was much closer to the feelings
of most of our fellow travellers. This independant review says:-

"I think part of the problem was that my expectations were too high. I
was expecting, if not exactly the Orient Express, something a bit luxurious
(as that is how ViaRail sell The Canadian). Which is why I was disappointed,
because luxurious it ain't...... I was hugely disappointed with the train, which
is shabby (and we were in first class). The sleeping cabin was the tiniest I
have ever been in, hardly room to turn around when the bunks were set up. It
was worn, shabby and scruffy. The staff appeared to resent the presence of the
passengers (very strange, because all over Canada people were so nice and friendly).
The food in the restaurant was poor. I could go on. I had always thought it
would be nice to take the train across Canada."

Double Cabin in First Class

We opted for a "double cabin", rather than one of the "berths"
in first class. Given we thought this double cabin was small, I really would
not like a "berth" which are smaller still. A number of people on
our trip paid to upgrade from berth to a cabin, as they were so horrified at
their berth accommodation. A cabin looks like this

But you an see from the actual size that it is very small with the beds down
& they have cunningly taken the photo without the ladder for the top bunk
which takes up much of the spare space. Room size: 2.2 m x 1.5 m (7 ft 3 in.
X 5 ft), excluding 84 cm x 64 cm (2 ft 9 in x 2 ft 1 in) for private washroom.
Take off 3 ft for the bed and you are left with 2ft spare to roam around in.
The toilet is tiny, anyone overweight would have extreme difficulty using it,
think 2ft 9in x 2ft put a toilet boel into that space, and there is not much
room for the user.

There are no no door locks on the outside of the door, so your cabin is not
lockable when you are out of it. There is one shared shower per carriage - so
a pre-breakfast shower is difficult to get, think in terms of having your shower
mid-morning.

During the day the beds are folded back, and two chairs appear from under the
bottom bunk. We found our chairs so moth-eaten that we asked the attendant to
leave the bottom bunk in place during the day.

You need to be aware that the storage space in the cabin is very small. There
are no drawers for clothes, and the closet is 3 inches wide, so takes very little.
We put our changes of socks and underwear in plastic bags to make them easily
accessible during the trip. And when they say "Maximum dimensions of each
carry-on: 66 x 46 x 23 cm (26 x 18 x 9 in.)" , that is a fair indication
of the size of case that you can stuff up high over the wash basin.

And be warned, the sound insulation to the cabin next door is non existant
- you can hear everything!

Dining

The food was reasonable without being "gourmet".

Breakfast was the same choice each day and you turned up for
the meal when you wanted, but there were not enough tables to accommodate everyone,
so there tended to be a long wait for a table. I had the "Transcontinental"
each day, and apart from the hash browns which you could not avoid, and the
terrible coffee, the rest was very pleasant. The coffee was certainly not "fresh
brewed", and did not even taste of coffee. At breakfast each day you got
a "sitting" for lunch and dinner. With luck you got a sitting that
was acceptable to you. With 3 sittings, lunch was offered at 11am, 12.30 or
2pm.

Lunch was more of the North American snack than a meal, but
was again pleasant. Service was rushed, as the staff wanted to get you through
as quickly as possible. For example, plates of each person were removed as soon
as they were finished

Dinner was the most gracious meal of the day. Again rushed,
but did have some of the ambiance of a good restaurant, if not unhurried elegance.

Park Observation car

Most of our time was spent in the Park Observation car, that is the last car
on the train, with an observation dome upstairs, and a view out at the back
on the lower level.

Here you could chat all day or just observe the passing countryside. One of
the really nice things about this sort of trip - there were 97 people on the
train, 48 of whom were in first class - is that you can talk to anybody without
feeling you are intruding. One can strike up remarkable discussions -as a Northern
Ireland protestant, I had long and interesting chats to Jim Lavelle, who sported
a Sinn Fein t-shirt complete with pictures of Jerry Adams and Martin McGuiness.

Fresh fruit was available here on a help yourself basis, as was more of the
undrinkable coffee, or, as an alternative, luke warm water for tea. There was
a bar, but as that was largely used for staff relaxation, it seemed to be off
limits to passengers.

Staff

The staff keep themselves to themselves. There is no real greeting on getting
aboard. We were not told where the dining car was, what time meals were at,
how we got assigned mealtimes, what the procedure was for getting the cabin
changed from day mode to night mode, etc. They ran on the assumption that the
easiest course of life was to avoid the passengers. No first class service here.

The extremely aggressive dining car supervisor on the leg from Vancouver to
Winnipeg spoilt the dining experience for us, and for many. In the end the train
director had to summon him for a hearing and told him that his attitude was
not acceptable. However that did not help us, and we were glad to see the back
of him at Winnipeg. The man was a power mad dictator, who looked on the passengers
to obey all his petty rules. The man was a disgrace, and should not have been
allowed to run a dining car.

Entertainment

There apparently was an entertainment car, where someone organised things like
quizzes and wine tastings, but in an effort to reduce their work load and reduce
the number of passengers attending, the staff never actually announced where
and when, so they passed my by.

There were meant to be regular "champagne" (actually sparking wine)
receptions at Vancouver, Jasper, Winnipeg. However little was served, staff
came round once with canapees (they were very good, those very small little
nibbles), you got one, then they never re-appeared! The wine was in plastic
glasses.

The trip

To make this readable, I have broken the trip down into daily chunks. Click
to read each day.